A FIRST

04.29.13

Black Voter Turnout Rate Surpassed Whites’

Richard Drew/AP

For the first time ever, the rate of African-American voter turnout surpassed that of whites during the 2012 election. According to a new analysis of election results and census data from a collaboration between the Brookings Institution and the Associated Press, in November blacks also voted more than any other minority group. In fact, the ratio of black voters who took to the polls compared with whites who stayed home was so significant that, they say, if the turnout demographics had been the same as in 2004, Mitt Romney would be president right now.